The present invention relates to the preparation of baked goods and the like, and more particularly to an improved method for forming designs upon the surface thereof.
The vast majority of prior art relating to decorating confections and baked goods concerns means and methods for forming three-dimensional decorations and designs, usually by the application of additional foodstuffs such as icings and the like, which are formed into the desired configuration. In a few instances the prior art discloses the application of two-dimensional designs through the use of colored inks, food dyes, and the like which are transferred to the surface of previously-cooked baked goods or confections. One example of such prior art in U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,287-Golchert in which it is disclosed that a design which has been hand-formed upon a porous transfer medium can be subsequently transferred to the surface of a cake or other pre-cooked food item. Typically, with this process designs are created by the person using the method so that the newly-prepared transfer is available for application to the confection.
One major disadvantage of such prior art approaches is that few people are sufficiently talented to hand-make a sufficiently attractive design, even if a process of tracing is resorted to. This is particularly true in the case of children. With such approaches intricate or detailed designs, multiple color designs or shading effects are extremely difficult to achieve.
Another, and even more significant, disadvantage of such prior art approaches is that they are practiced only in a final or finishing step, inasmuch as they are applied to pre-cooked items such as a cake or the like. The porous nature of some cooked food items may be prone to blur the design; and further, no means is taught whereby such a design can be permanently fixed on the surface of the food item. Indeed, if an attempt is made to cover such a design with, for instance, a protective coating, the coating material will typically dissolve the ink forming the design and cause it to smear or blur.
A second prior art approach is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,406 Ort, for "Decorating Bread Products." Ort discloses applying designs to baked goods by silk-screening edible inks onto "half-proof" (i.e. partially risen) rolls or breads. This method suffers from the drawback that silk-screening permits but one color ink to be applied at a time; therefore, if it is desired to decorate a baked good with a multicolored design, several different silkscreens must be made, and a corresponding number of inking steps must be employed. In order to ensure proper registration of the several inks, so that they are each in the proper places with respect to one another, elaborate measures (complicated by the amorphous nature of dough and variations in size from one roll or loaf to the next) must be undertaken, all adding to the complexity, difficulty and expense of the operation.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to teach an improved method for forming designs upon certain food products.
Another object is to provide a method whereby complex or intricate designs may easily be formed on baked goods.
Yet another object is to provide a method whereby a transfer design may be fixed in the surface of a food product with improved resolution.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide a method of decorating baked goods prior to baking which may be practiced by hand or by machine.
A further object is to provide a readily practicable method whereby multicolored decorations may be applied to baked goods in a single application step.